The advisory has been put up after the CBSE received complaints from parents that they were pressurised by schools to buy more number of textbooks published by others.

As per TOI reports, the board opines that schools needn't look beyond NCERT books as the material forms the base for not only board exams but competitive exams like JEE as well.

According to current mechanism the schools are required to use NCERT books for classes 9 to 12 whereas classes upto 8 are permitted to use textbooks from other publications. "We are recommending schools to start using NCERT books for lower classes as well," said K Srinivasan, regional officer-CBSE, Chennai.

Stating the reason for opting other publications for lower classes Ajit Prasad Jain, senior principal, Bhavan's Rajaji Vidyashram, said "The nearest NCERT godown/sale counter being based in Bengaluru, there is nearly a wait of six months to procure books and it is convenient to buy other publications that don't sway away from the prescribed CBSE syllabus."